The House War
by ThreeHundredNinetyFour
Summary: Albus Potter, Lorcan Scamander, Alex Longbottom and Scorpius Malfoy enter Hogwarts in the middle of a war between the houses and are all sorted into different houses. They vow not to participate in the war, and are hated for it. Join them on their journey through the years of Hogwarts as they learn lessons about life, love, friendship and family that will stay with them forever.
1. Intro

The air was crisp and cool on the first morning of September that year. For many, it was just an ordinary day; another day of work, another day of school. That it was, in fact, for most people in London. Most, but not all. Not the young Hogwarts students, waking at the crack of dawn, giddy with anticipation of their next exciting year at school. Yes, they looked forward to school. Immensely. But these children weren't weird. Just different. You see, Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry didn't accept just anyone. They didn't teach any of the material found in the other schools around town. They taught young witches and wizards how to preform magic. Real magic.

On this morning, a very prominent figure was visible strolling briskly toward the bricks bordering Platforms Nine and Ten in a train station known as Kings Cross. He walked next to his wife, whose smile was as big and genuine as his. They were following their son and daughter, twins age thirteen, who carried themselves with an air of great confidence. The contented family neared the wall, but didn't break step. Instead they continued walking, straight into it. There was no crash, as might've been expected, given the many packages carried by the two children. They passed through it as though it was nothing more than air. Emerging on the other side of the border, they didn't see Platform Ten, but Platform Nine and Three Quarters. A grand red engine was distinguishable on this foggy day-the Hogwarts Express.

"Longbottom!" someone exclaimed, almost immediately.

The father lifted his hand and nodded at the person, and the family moved on, weaving through the thick crowd. They seemed to be searching for something. Hardly a moment later, they were approached by another figure.

"Neville, it'd been a while! How've you been?" he grinned widely, extending his hand.

"Seamus Finnigan, nice to see you, mate! I've been great, thanks. How about yourself?" the man replied, halting.

"Amazing," Seamus gestured behind him to a girl who looked about sixteen years old. "It's Carla's sixth year."

Neville looked at the girl. She was engaged in a conversation with a woman whom she resembled greatly, presumably her mother. Although she wasn't dressed for school, she was wearing a red t-shirt picturing a roaring gold lion.

"Well we better get going. We're meeting some people further down," Neville said regretfully.

"See you Neville. Hannah," Seamus nodded at Neville's wife, who smiled warmly back.

And they continued on, smiling and talking amongst themselves, occasionally waving and saying hello to friends as they made their way down the platform. They appeared to be the perfect family. That was, until you noticed the smaller boy trailing slightly behind them. He was only eleven years of age. He carried packages similar to the other two children, but unlike them, he didn't look bright, bubbly and happy. Quite the opposite, actually. He frowned with annoyance as he glumly followed his family to their destination.


	2. Scorpius Malfoy

Alex POV

Guess which one was me. Yeah, you got it. The last one. My name is Alexander Longbottom. Alex for short. Neville Longbottom is my father, and Hannah Abbot Longbottom is my mother. My brother and sister are Frank and Alice. My parents love them. Everyone does. And they are both proud Gryffindors, starting their third year at Hogwarts this year. I'm the third kid. No one really knows me or cares about me. And no one, least of all my parents, understand me at all. No one but my two friends.

"Neville! Hannah!" I hear from somewhere in front of me suddenly.

I recognize the voice and follow my parents over to where Harry Potter stands. He has three kids. The youngest, Lily, is complaining to her mother, Ginny, that she doesn't want to wait two years to go to Hogwarts. Albus, one of my scarce friends, was arguing with his brother James a distance away from the others. James is a second year, and Albus is first, like me.

I greeted Harry, Ginny and Lily with the rest of my family before wandering over to Albus and James.

"OKAY JAMES!" Albus cried. "I'm going to get into Gryffindor. Quit worrying!"

"Alright, alright. I'm just saying, if my brother isn't in Gryf-"

"James!" he was interrupted by my brother, calling him.

Annoyance flickered over his face, but it was gone so quickly I almost doubted that it had been there in the first place. Almost. But I knew that although he pretended otherwise, James disliked my siblings a lot. No one else knew, only me. It was strange; I had an inexplicable ability to see through people. I guessed I was just observant.

James walked over to Frank and Alice, and Albus turned to me. He opened his mouth to explain, but I cut him off.

"I've been getting loads of crap too. They all absolutely need me to be in Gryffindor. I think its a bunch of rubbish. Who cares what house we're in?" I asked, annoyed.

"Yeah, really. I've been thinking that too. But with the house war and all, I mean, even my parents are dying for me to be in Gryffindor," Albus agreed.

He looked some what nervous. I had been hearing all about the house war too. It's ridiculous. Recently, the houses have been becoming more and more competitive, so much that it has actually caused the students to divide. Most people are only friends with people inside their houses, and the houses have all started to dislike each other immensely. I don't really care, but I can tell Albus does.

"Al, don't worry about it. It doesn't matter what house we're in. Really. I'm not worried," I said.

"Yeah, your right. Whatever. Hogwarts is gonna be awesome," he flashed me a grin and I returned it.

But neither of us were done thinking about it, so we just followed our families in silence as Harry lead us to the Weasleys and Scamanders, some of our close family friends. In a minute or so, we saw the huge mass of red hair that was the Weasleys. We approached the quickly.

"Alex! Al!" a familiar voice called.

Calling us was my other friend, Lorcan Scamander. Him, his mum Luna, his dad,Rolf, and his brother Lysander, were standing in the midst of the Weasley crowd. Al and I made our way toward him. Standing with them talking to Lysander was Al's cousin Rose Weasley. Al, Lorcan and I didn't get along with her well, or any of his other cousins for that matter, but Lysander did.

"Hey Lorcan," I greeted when we reached him.

"What's up?" he replied.

Al rolled his eyes, "They cannot stop telling us how badly they need us to be in Gryffindor."

"Both my parents were in Ravenclaw, but they don't care, so..." Lorcan shrugged.

"Your so lucky!" Al exclaimed.

"I know," he grinned.

"Shut up," I rolled his eyes at him, but then laughed.

"But seriously guys. The House War," Al said, sounding kind of freaked out.

I looked at him.

"No matter what house I'm in, I'm not gonna take any part in that," I said flatly.

Al nodded. I wish I had known then how hard it would be to live that out, but I do know it was worth it.

"Guys!" another one of Al's cousins, Roxanne, called to us, "We're getting on!"

We quickly followed the others to the Hogwarts Express and boarded. As soon as we were on, we split up from the rest of the group and went to find a compartment for ourselves. We were some of the last people on the train; it was already pretty full. Eventually, we got tired of looking for an empty compartment.

"Guys, c'mon. Let's go in here," Lorcan pointed to a compartment with only one person in it.

"Alright," I said, and Al followed me.

I slid the door open.

"Can we sit here? It's pretty packed everywhere else."

"Sure," the boy in the compartment replied nicely.

He had slick blonde hair and deep gray eyes.

"I'm Scorpius Malfoy," he introduced himself.

I could feel Al's hesitation behind me. Our families and the Malfoys never really got along. They sorta... hated each other. But I wasn't about to judge him by his last name, so I walked in and sat down.

"I'm Alex Longbottom, and that's Albus Potter and Lorcan Scamander," I pointed to Al and then Lorcan.

Al followed my lead and sat down, Lorcan behind him. I was always best at seeing what people were really like almost immediately, and they both knew that. I could tell Al still didn't really like the idea of being friends with a Malfoy, though.

"What house do you think you're gonna be?" Al couldn't stop himself from asking.

I gave him a look, but one glance at Lorcan told me he was thinking along the same lines.

"Well," Scorpius replied, "both of my parents were in Slytherin, but I don't really care. I think this whole House War thing is a joke, personally."

I turned in his seat to give Al a superior look.

Al looked surprised, but answered anyway, "Yeah, same with me, but my parents and older brother are dying for me to be in Gryffindor. Even my younger sister who doesn't go to Hogwarts for two years is hoping I make Gryffindor."

"My parents don't care, and I'm an only child. No one above me to tell me what to do. I'm really glad," Scorpius said.

"Mine don't care either, but I have a twin brother who's dying to get Ravenclaw like them," Lorcan rolled his eyes.

He really hated Lysander almost as much as I hated Frank and Alice.Almost, but not quite.

"What about you, Alex?" Scorpius took me by surprise, asking me, and I decided that I liked him.

I considered things for a moment before replying blatantly, "I hate the war. I hate my dad. I really hate my brother and sister. Everyone in my family is dying for me to be a Gryffindor, even my mum, and she was a Hufflepuff!"

I sounded really angry. Al and Lorcan exchanged a glance, annoying me further, and Scorpius looked taken aback.

"Why?" he questioned hesitantly.

"My siblings, Frank and Alice, are in their third year and they are already extremely involved in everything that's going on. You'll definitely encounter them if you stay friends with me. As for my dad, well, he's the Herbology professor. You're gonna meet him soon enough too," I replied bitterly, and he was smart enough not to question me further.

Just then the snack trolley came by, interrupting the tense silence overtaking the compartment. We all jumped up and bought tons of candy. Putting all of our stuff together, we had at least one of everything.

We had been eating the candy for only about thirty seconds when suddenly, Lorcan started coughing and spit something onto the floor.

"Aww! Gross!" he exclaimed.

I took one look at the box in his hands and burst out laughing. Al and Scorpius joined me immediately, and so did Lorcan when he finished choking. Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans.

When he finally stopped laughing enough to talk, he said, "God! That was earwax. Disgusting!"

"Eat another one to get the taste out of your mouth," Al suggested, grinning.

"No way!" Lorcan cried, shoving the box off of his lap.

I caught it grabbed a promising looking red bean, and ate it.

"Strawberry," I announced, and everyone sighed with disappointment.

Al ate one next, and it was pepper.

"It's actually pretty good!" he said in surprise.

Then it was Scorpius' turn.

"I can eat anyone of these," he boasted.

Lorcan grabbed the box from his hands and searched around for a bad looking bean. He picked out a sketchy brown one and raised his eyebrows challengingly.

"Sure," Scorpius shrugged, shocking all of us.

And he ate it. We watched him chew it and swallow it before breaking into a grin.

"Chocolate," he said.

Lorcan's jaw dropped.

"Are you kidding me?" he searched the box for another one.

He found it and popped it into his mouth without a moment's hesitation. A split second later, the grin slid off his face as he broke into another coughing fit, and we all laughed again, much harder this time. We laughed so hard that we were all gasping for breath at the end.

Eventually, I asked, "What was it?"

Lorcan shook his head, "Trust me, you don't wanna know."

I grinned. Scorpius grabbed the box from him and found one more.

"Seriously?" Al asked.

Scorpius shrugged, "I love chocolate."

We could all relate. Then he ate it. Lorcan looked horrified when Scorpius smiled broadly.

"Chocolate!" he exclaimed.

I rolled my eyes and reached into the box. We continued eating the beans and all the other candy until there was no more. Then we slowly started to get bored and hungry. We changed into our Hogwarts robes, dying for the ride to be over. Finally, we arrived...


	3. Hogwarts

Lorcan POV

We were finally at Hogwarts! Slowly, we stood up, and I slid the compartment door open. We filed out into the isle, and followed the procession to exits of the train. Everyone was crowding the doors, jostling each other around and out of the way to get out of the train. Eventually, we made our way out.

"First years over here!" A voice yelled. It was rather dark out, so we couldn't see well, but we followed the general direction of the voice.

"First years!" the woman called again, and this time we could see her.

We approached her and stood in the group of other first years, all looking pretty nervous. We waited for a few more minutes to make sure everyone was there. In front of us, there was a huge lake as far as I could see, and there were several small boats next to where we stood.

After some time, the woman said, "Alright, everyone should be here by now. Get in, four to a boat. No more."

Everyone headed toward the boats and got In. Al, scorpius, Alex and I got in a boat together. Once everyone was in, she tapped the side if her boat with her wand, and we all lurched forward. We spent the ride in silence, each of us lost in our own thoughts. I stared down into the lake underneath us and literally shivered at the thought of falling into it. It looked creepy. And freezing. This lake was so black that I couldn't even see my own reflection. It was a quiet night, at least. There was no rain, not much wind, but still, it was quite cold.

"Everyone duck, there are some low hanging branches over here," the woman's voice interrupted my thoughts.

I ducked as did the others around of me. The branches went over our heads as we rounded a corner and I looked up just in time to see what the trees had been hiding from us. The silence was filled with oohs and ahhs at our first sight of Hogwarts. I personal never was a sight seeing person, but this was amazing. Hogwarts at first sight was light years better that anyone could even attempt to explain. I understood now. Bright light poured out of the many windows of this mammoth building, lighting the night like an oversized lantern. It was truly the most beautiful building I had ever witnessed. The rest of the ride I spent daydreaming about the innumerable wonders of Hogwarts until eventually we arrived and were told to get off the boats.

The woman lead us through ginormous double doors, down a hallway, up a case of moving stairs just like the ones my parents had told me about, and the around a corner. She stopped, and I felt Alex tense immediately next to me. I felt a sharp intake of breath and saw Alex narrow his eyes. The woman greeted the man who stood there and turned to us.

"First years, this is Professor Neville Longbottom, your Herbology professor and Head of Gryffindor House," she introduced him before opening the doors and exiting into the room ahead of us.

"Yeah," Alex muttered to Scorpius, "that's my dad."

"In a few minutes, I will take you into the Great Hall to be sorted into your houses. They will be like your families here at Hogwarts. For you positive actions, your house will be awarded with points, while any disregard of the rules will penalize you. The house with the most points at the end of the year wins the House Cup," Professor Longbottom explained.

Alex sighed and made a big show of rolling his eyes, leaning over and saying something to Scorpius.

"Excuse me," Professor Longbottom said angrily, but he didn't show any connection between him and Alex.

"I don't have a house yet. What are you gonna do about it?" Alex challenged.

Everyone was holding their breath, waiting to see what would happen. I bit my lip. This was not good.

"Detention," he said to Alex before turning away from him. "I'll be back soon."

Then he left.

"Alex-," Al started before I could even say anything.

"I know, I know," Alex replied, annoyed, "I couldn't help myself."

"Do you realize how angry he's gonna be when he finds out who I am?" Scorpius exclaimed, annoyed.

"Yeah," Alex said simply. "That's why I was talking to you."

"You have detention with your dad!" I cried. "That is not good."

Suddenly, everyone was talking at the same time.

_"He pretended he didn't even know me!" _Alex shouted over everyone.

That silenced us. I had wondered why he dared to talk back. This explains it.

"He is my father for God's sake! And he doesn't even acknowledge that. I might as well be some random guy they picked up off the street!" he went on angrily.

"Your right," Al said tentatively, and I nodded.

"I better not get Gryffindor. Anything but Gryffindor. I hope I get... Hufflepuff," Alex fumed.

That unnerved me. What did he mean? Was he going to ask for Hufflepuff? Because it definitely worked when Al's dad asked not to be in Slytherin. No, he wouldn't do that... Would he? Alex was quite unpredictable- I shook my head and forced myself to stop thinking about it.

Just the Professor Longbottom walked back in. He cleared his throat and, pointedly looking away from us, began to speak.

"Now, we will enter the Great Hall. You will all wait for me to call your name to be sorted into your house. Then you will go sit down at your house table. Follow me."

There were four long tables, students sitting at each one. Then there was one more table over looking the other three. The Hogwarts staff was all seated at that table. We walked forward and formed a line where Professor Longbottom told us to stand. In front of us was a stool. On the stool sat a hat. The Sorting Hat. But before we were sorted, I remembered, the Sorting Hat had to sing. It opened its mouth and began its song.

"There are four houses in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry,

To find the perfect one, I must rule out the other three,

My job is to put you into the house that will be just right for you,

It will help you learn more, grow more, and make more friends too.

"Gryffindor is the perpetual home of all brave and true,

These daring souls will fight near and far for you,

Ravenclaw houses those with intellect and wit,

Any problem, their clever minds can no doubt solve it.

"Those of steadfast fidelity and kindness belong in Hufflepuff,

These loyal friends will do anything you, they can never help enough,

In Slytherin stand proud those of cunning and deep ambition,

Sly as they are, they will do almost anything to achieve their mission.

"So there are the four houses that you will all be sorted into,

Along with your friends, who will prove to be much help to you,

In these seven years at Hogwarts that will certainly go by fast,

You will learn all you need to know to make your legacy last.

"However before I am done, I must issue a warning to all,

Now this is not just for the first years, but everyone in the Great Hall,

Stay close to your friends and don't let your differences divide you,

For we are heading for a disaster if our problems we don't undo."

And just like that the song ended, on such a strange note. Muttering rose up through out the hall, but silenced soon. Professor Longbottom stepped forward and picked up the Sorting Hat.

"When I call your name, come up and be seated on this stood. I will place the Sorting Hat on your head, and when it announces your house, you may go sit at the allotted table," he explained.

"Azari, Laila," he called.

A short girl with brown hair slowly approached the stool. Professor Longbottom placed the Sorting Hat on her head.

It seemed to consider for a moment before yelling, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The table to the far left of the Great Hall quite literally, roared, just like the lion that was their mascot.

When they quieted, Professor Longbottom called the next name, "Bateh, Tyler."

He was sorted almost immediately into Ravenclaw.

The table next to the Gryffindors cheered loudly as he sat down.

"Duncan, Emily," became a Hufflepuff, and the sorting went on like that.

Eventually, I started to tune out, worrying about everything going on. Alex had detention with his dad. To make matters worse, his dad was about to find out who Scorpius was. There was nothing wrong with him as a person, but I knew he would never accept the fact that his son was friends with a Malfoy. Al and I were hesitant to start talking to him, so I knew there was no way Professor Longbottom would understand. He didn't even know Scorpius, but he certainly hated his father.

Besides that, what Alex had said about wanting to be in Hufflepuff was still bothering me. He wasn't actually going to ask the Sorting Hat to place him in Hufflepuff just because his dad wanted him to be in Gryffindor... He didn't hate him that much. As much as Alex pretended otherwise, I could tell part of him wished he got along with his family. He wouldn't risk being separated from his friends just to defy them, or at least I didn't think so. That would be a little too extreme.

The other thing on my mind was the Sorting Hat's song. It was pretty straight forward, and it had ended quite abruptly. It had to be talking about the house war. What else? "Stay close to your friends... heading for a disaster..." The last part of the song was constantly replaying in my head. It gave me an uneasy feeling. I didn't know exactly why at the time. I mean, I had known about the war, right? So then why was the warning against it worrying me so much. I agreed that it was wrong... I finally decided to stop thinking about that too.

Suddenly, my thoughts were interrupted by the table all the way on the right of the Great Hall erupting in cheers louder than any of the others before.

"Khan, Arman," had just become the first Slytherin.

Then next person to be sorted was, "Kareen, Sarah."

After considering for a moment, the Sorting Hat yelled out, "RAVENCLAW!"

She sat down at the Ravenclaw table, looking uneasy.

"Longbottom, Alex," was the next name.

I almost gasped aloud in shock. It was Alex's turn! I had lost track of the alphabet. Alex started at his father as he slowly walked forward without a trace of nervousness or worry apparent on his face, but I knew he must be terrified. There was fire in his penetrating brown eyes as he defiantly met his father's firm stare. Professor Longbottom looked angry. The kind, pleasant look he had given all of the other students was no where to be seen. Alex sat down on the stool, and his father placed the Sorting Hat on his head. Everything seemed to happen in extremely slow motion. The Sorting Hat considered for ages, longer than anyone else so far. After what seemed like hours but was only seconds, the its mouth opened...


	4. The Sorting

Alex: POV

"Longbottom, Alex," the Sorting Hat called.

I took a deep breath and stepped forward, knowing what I had to do. My dad glared at me, and I met his eyes with just as much fury. He couldn't intimidate me into getting Gryffindor. The thought of him intimidating me into anything was, pretty much, laughable. but my face didn't change. My father and I locked eyes, neither of us willing to break the stare until I walked past him to sit down. I felt him place the Sorting Hat on my head. His anxiety was easily felt by me. I was a little nervous myself, but I had to block out those feelings. Doubting myself would be my downfall, I knew.

"A complex mind," I heard in my head after a while.

I didn't bother to reply, I just waited, fighting to keep my face clean of any expression.

"You have qualities that could put you in any of the houses," it went on. "You are cunning and definitely ambitious. Witty, intelligent. Pretty smart, when you need to be. But not exactly book smart..."

I almost chuckled at that. It was so true.

"Very loyal to those who have earned you trust, you are. And brave- very brave. Courageous, daring, definitely. I think that's where most of your personality lies, in Gryffindor," he concluded.

"No," I thought.

"No?" the Sorting Hat asked.

"I don't want Gryffindor. I want... Hufflepuff. Put me in Hufflepuff," I said firmly in my head.

The Sorting Hat didn't say a word for a good minute. It was considering. Finally, it opened its mouth.

"HUFFLEPUFF!" it shouted.

My dad was practically radiating anger. I quickly walked to the Hufflepuff table and sat down at the end next to the other first years. They were cheering loudly, having got Neville Longbottom's son. My dad was pretty famous for the part he played in the Second Wizarding War, especially in the Battle of Hogwarts. Then the next name was called and the moment was over.

Scorpius was probably next, I realized suddenly. I wondered what house he would be in. I really didn't know him that well. He seemed like a nice guy, kind and all. He could be in Hufflepuff. I didn't really know if he was smart or not for Ravenclaw, but he did seem pretty intelligent. There was no way for me to be able to tell if he was brave like a Gryffindor, either. But as for Slytherin, well, he did seem quite ambitious, definitely confident in himself. He was pretty sarcastic. He was the kind of person that some people will like and find hilarious whereas others will hate and consider extremely mean and rude. I was too, I realized. I didn't have time to think on it much more, though, for the next name called was Scorpius.

He approached my dad and the stool nervously, for he could see just as well as I that my dad recognized him as the boy I had been talking to earlier. He looked furious about it, as I, of course, had predicted. The Sorting Hat considered on him for a while, but not as long as me. Not even close.

After some time, it yelled out to the Great Hall, "SLYTHERIN!"

Scorpius glanced at me before heading to the Slytherin table. I could tell this angered my dad even more, knowing that Draco Malfoy's son was in Slytherin, just like him. He thought this proved him right, that just because Scorpius was in Slytherin like his father, he would make all the same mistakes. I hated that.

To distract myself, I started thinking about Albus, who would be sorted soon. I knew that he wanted to be in Gryffindor. He couldn't handle the pressure, he just wanted to follow his orders. That bothered me a little, but I pushed that worry aside. He was pretty brave and strong willed. Also, he was determined and courageous. Like me, he wasn't very book smart. He definitely wasn't cunning or very ambitious. He was loyal and kind though, but I didn't think he'd be a Hufflepuff. Al wanted Gryffindor, and he would probably get it.

Soon, it was his turn. As he walked toward my dad, I saw the nervousness clearly on his face. He was quite desperate to get Gryffindor. Why else would he be so worried? Sure enough, Al was sorted into Gryffindor. I was glad that he had got his wish, but I couldn't help feeling slightly upset still. I knew the main reason he had wanted Gryffindor so badly is that everyone else wanted him to get Gryffindor. I frowned when I realized something. That was the same reason I didn't want Gryffindor; the same reason I had asked for Hufflepuff. It made no sense to me.

Lorcan was the last of my friends to be sorted. Where would he be? Well, he was definitely smart, and he enjoyed reading and learning. That sounded like Ravenclaw. After all, that was where both of his parents were from. He was also rather shy, unlike a bold Gryffindor or a cunning Slytherin. He was loyal and kind, though. He could be a Hufflepuff. Lorcan, I decided, would either be a Hufflepuff or a Ravenclaw.

After waiting for such a long time, Lorcan was finally called up. The Sorting Hat deliberated for a moment before announcing Ravenclaw. Lysander was next, and he became a Ravenclaw almost immediately. Lorcan looked annoyed about that, and I couldn't blame him. A few names later Rose Weasley was called. She was, of course, sorted into Gryffindor right away, and rage welled up in me again when I saw my dad give her an approving look.

After Rose, the sorting was over. As I didn't know anyone sitting near me, I ate silently thinking about tonight's events. That was when it occurred to me that my three friends and I were just sorted into all different houses at the start of a house war. How would our friendship hold under that? I knew that there was no way I was going to participate in this petty war, but Albus, well he was pressured into making Gryffindor, so i didn't know for sure. Lorcan wasn't really that strong willed either. Before then, I had simply learned to except the flaws of my friends, but now, well, the situation was different. The one thing I did know, at least, was that Scorpius was like me. There was no way his opinion could be swayed by others. He would have to change his mind on his own.

I sat, contemplating all of this for a while, when I realized an unsettling fact. My three friends and I were in the four different houses of Hogwarts on the brink of this war. And I had a premonition that it was going to get a lot worse. The Sorting Hat's song... I just kept going back to that.

After a while, with no one to talk to, I grew bored. That was when I became aware that Alice and Frank were staring at me from the Gryffindor table. They both looked furious, especially Frank. He was always the worse of the two of them. I looked up and met his eyes defiantly. He glared at me for a moment, but someone sitting near him said something to him so he looked away. I looked down the table at Al, who looked bored and annoyed like me. He looked up and saw me watching him, but then James, sitting next to him, started talking to him. I looked away. Lorcan and Scorpius were both sporting similar expressions. A sigh escaped my lips, and I turned back to my food grumpily, wishing I at least had someone to talk to.

A few minutes later, the food disappeared, only to be replaced by dessert. When I finished eating, I looked up at the table where all the teachers were sitting. My dad was talking amiably to a man I didn't know to his right. On his left side sat the headmaster of Hogwarts, who was conferring with someone else who I didn't know. The headmaster looked like a kind, friendly man. His face was creased with wrinkles from laughter. Although he didn't look much older than my father, there was a considerable amount of gray in his black hair. Suddenly, he stood up, revealing himself to be much shorter than I had perceived, and all of the food disappeared. The Great Hall silenced as he stepped forward. Everyone looked up at him expectantly.

"Welcome," his voice echoed throughout the huge room, breaking the silence. "I'm Professor Donnelly, the headmaster of Hogwarts. I am looking forward to another great year with all of you. First years, it's okay to be nervous. Everyone is when they start out. If you feel a little out of place now, don't worry, you'll get used to things here quickly. I just have a couple start of term announcements. First of all, the Forbidden Forest is still ground for all students. Also, the ever growing list of items banned from campus is posted for viewing in the caretaker's office on the third floor. I'm sure Mr. Reese will be glad to let you see it."

He paused for a moment before saying, "I think that's it. You will all receive your schedules in the morning at breakfast. You may be dismissed."

Everyone pushed toward the doors of the Great Hall. I stood up and walked with everyone else out of the room, realizing how exhausted I was.

"Alex!" I heard from behind me.

I turned to see Scorpius making his way toward me.

"God, this is so annoying," I said to him.

"Yeah," he agreed, falling into step with me.

"We're all in different houses, and no one in my house is interesting," I complained.

"Everyone in my house is a jerk," Scorpius replied.

I had nothing to say after that.

"Alex," Scorpius stopped and looked me in the eye, "did you ask for Hufflepuff?"


End file.
